Editorial: Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll?

“If you think you are too old to rock ‘n’ roll, then you are."

- Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister (1945 - 2015)

 

Lemmy's Final Performance 12/11/2016

After being a roadie for Jimi Hendrix in the late 1960s and spending three years playing bass in the space rock band Hawkwind, Lemmy formed the legendary hard rock band Motörhead in 1975. After forty years of nearly constant touring and recording, as well as similarly constant amphetamine and alcohol use, Lemmy’s health began to severely deteriorate in 2015, causing a few shows to be cut short or postponed. This was an extremely unnerving turn of events for the rock and metal community, as many couldn’t recall a previous time that Lemmy was unable to play a show. This collective incredulity was a clear indicator of the strength of this man’s legacy as an unyielding musician and individual, as well as the severity of his health issues. After a relatively short tour hiatus, Lemmy eventually soldiered on and completed the year’s touring, including a spectacular September 2015 performance at the Tower Theater in Philadelphia, PA, which I attended, and will cherish the memory of forever. 

After completing the final dates of the tour, Lemmy attended a 70th birthday celebration in Los Angeles, CA on December 13th, hosted by a small selection of the myriad rock and metal legends that he inspired. Two days later Lemmy’s health began to severely decline once again, prompting his manager Todd Singerman to get him to a hospital, where Lemmy underwent various scans and tests. On December 26th, two days after his actual 70th birthday, Lemmy was informed that he had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, with doctors predicting that he only had months to live. Two days later, on December 28th, 2015, Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister’s spectacular life was ended at the age of 70, by a combination of aggressive prostate cancer and congestive heart failure. Anyone who would doubt the fullness of Lemmy’s life should direct their attention to a May 2015 interview he gave to Classic Rock Magazine, wherein Lemmy stated, "Death is an inevitability, isn't it? You become more aware of that when you get to my age. I don't worry about it. I'm ready for it. When I go, I want to go doing what I do best. If I died tomorrow, I couldn't complain. It's been good."

I should note that at this point of writing the article, I had to take a lengthy break to regain my emotional composure before continuing. The facts are that this man died quickly, and clearly would have been satisfied with his life at the end, only weeks after successfully completing a challenging tour and attending a celebration of his immense artistic legacy. On top of that, I was lucky enough to witness a small piece of that legacy in person. With all of those positive factors at play, it may seem that writing about his death shouldn’t be as upsetting to me as it is, but for whatever reason, despite his spirit living on forever in his music and the people he inspired, it’s just really fucking tragic for me to consider that there’s one less guy like that in the world.

Lemmy is just one example of several aging rock stars who have passed away in the past few months, such as David Bowie, Glenn Frey, and Keith Emerson. The truth is that whether we want to accept it or not, our favorite bands that we and our parents grew up listening to are all facing the steady march of time. Just in the past year, I’ve seen three bands perform during what could likely be their final tours. Two of them, Rush and Black Sabbath, were previously aware of this and marketed the tours accordingly. In Rush’s case, the decision was based on maintaining both their professional and personal reputations. After forty years of extremely hard work and a reputation for musical excellence, band members Geddy Lee (age 62), Alex Lifeson (62), and Neil Peart (63) announced that 2015’s “R40” tour would be their last tour, or at least the last on such a scale, citing various mounting physical issues that threatened their playing abilities, as well as their desire to spend more time with their respective families. For a band who acquired so much respect and reverence during their career, for both their musical skills and artistic integrity, such a graceful exit was to be expected. 

A relatively short time later in 2015, heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath announced that they were embarking on the band’s definitive final tour, citing lead guitarist and sole constant member Tony Iommi’s declining ability to endure touring, due to his continued treatments for lymphoma. Despite failed efforts to bring founding drummer Bill Ward onboard, the remaining members clearly decided to go out with a bang, a mentality I witnessed first hand at New York’s Madison Square Garden this past February, as Iommi (68), Ozzy Osbourne (67), and Geezer Butler (66) put on a fantastic and energetic show filled with classic Black Sabbath songs. Ozzy in particular was still quite spry for a healthy 67 year old, let alone someone whose younger years were filled with so much debauchery. Ozzy has claimed that he will continue his solo career after Black Sabbath has officially disbanded, and judging by his vocal quality and physical presence at the MSG concert, it will continue for years to come.

...Which brings me to AC/DC, the third band who I saw perform in the past year who may now be on their last legs. Unlike Rush and Black Sabbath’s tours, there was little to no warning for the band or fans alike that this tour could be the band’s last. When I saw them perform in August 2015 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ, the band had already lost two members within the past year. Rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young had been forced to retire in September 2014 after being diagnosed with dementia, which had all but destroyed his ability to perform. Only months after Malcolm was replaced by his nephew Stevie, longtime drummer Phil Rudd was replaced by Chris Slade after the former’s arrest on charges related to drugs and death threats. Still with vocalist Brian Johnson (68) and lead guitarist Angus Young (60) being the definitive driving forces of the band since 1980, I was left more than satisfied by the band’s stellar performance. But only months later in March 2016, the band announced that their tour would be postponed as Johnson had received doctor’s orders to stop performing immediately or risk permanent hearing loss. Oddly enough, according to Johnson this hearing loss was not due to his years of performing, but from misusing earplugs while enjoying his hobby of auto racing. Almost immediately a large amount of rumors started getting flung around by the music news media, covering everything from conflicting reports of Johnson’s actual condition, to the quite probable possibility of the band continuing with a replacement singer.

Rumors and bullshit aside, unless Johnson is truly unfit and/or unwilling to return, there is no good reason for AC/DC to simply replace him, especially under such short notice and with such an apparent lack of communication. Johnson not only stabilized the band after the death of original vocalist Bon Scott, he helped make the band’s following album the second highest selling album... of all time. I am obviously not aware of the band’s true intent or plans, and my analysis of the situation is not meant to be accusatory in tone, but I cannot comprehend how they could so quickly turn their backs on such a critical member of the band rather than wait and see how things play out. Both parties have offered few conclusive facts at this point, so any damning information is purely speculative, and ultimately the world will have to wait and see how this situation concludes.

So how long before other legendary acts are forced to call it a career, or even worse, chase the money too far and too long until they’re an embarrassing shadow of their former selves? Aside from the three bands I’ve discussed so far there were three other aging bands who I saw on their not-so-final tours in the past couple of years, and all three were truly inspiring to witness. The first was in October 2014, when Judas Priest turned the half-full PPL Center in Allentown, PA into a metal beacon of endurance and power. The band’s then 63-year-old vocalist Rob Halford, the Metal God himself, blew my mind (and the arena’s sound system almost) with vocals that would’ve been impressive for a man a third his age. Don’t believe me? See and hear the best example from that show for yourself (watch to the end): 

 

Just within the past month, I took a chance and bought a ticket to see the 50th anniversary tour of my favorite British Invasion band, The Who. This tour, while not explicitly referred to by the and as a final tour, but instead as a “long goodbye”, was postponed midway through for several months, after lead vocalist Roger Daltrey contracted viral meningitis in September 2015. I had previously decided not to buy a ticket to their November 2015 stop in Philadelphia, but after Lemmy’s death I was struck with the realization that if this was The Who’s last tour, I would never forgive myself for skipping it. Despite what my own mother would’ve had me believe (based on the band’s decade-old Super Bowl performance of all things), I was ultimately astounded and captivated by the vocal tenacity and stage presence of both Roger Daltrey and lead guitarist Pete Townshend, aged 72 and 71 respectively. From what I witnessed, no matter how many people try to dissuade me, I will always know that The Who, with no disrespect to the talents of the late drumming legend Keith Moon or bass master John Entwhistle, is a musical entity that deserves credit and respect for paying homage to the memory of their fallen members with dignity and grace, while also carrying the torch of rock and roll with passion and tenacity for over a half-century. The concert affected me like no concert before, or any concert for the foreseeable future I suspect, as I was literally brought to tears in the middle of “Love Reign o’er Me”. This was a song that I had never really taken much interest in previously, but now is one that I count among my favorite songs of not just The Who, but out of rock and roll’s entire history. Watch to the end:

 

The third aging band I saw, Iron Maiden, was the subject of rumors for the past several years concerning a potential end to the band, especially after their suspiciously titled 2010 album The Final Frontier. What was actually happening was the recording of the band’s most ambitious and longest album to date (over 92 minutes), The Book of Souls. While the album was released in September 2015, Iron Maiden, like The Who, had to postpone their tour until the beginning of 2016 due to their vocalist suffering a health problem. In Bruce Dickinson’s case though, that problem was a scary brush with tongue cancer, but after a successful operation to remove the offending tumor and several months off to allow recovery, the band launched into their 71-date worldwide tour with a vengeance. When I saw them at Madison Square Garden just a couple of weeks ago, Bruce’s voice didn’t seem fazed in the slightest, as his vocal ballistics propelled the crowd into a frenzy. The other five band members weren’t slouches either of course, giving phenomenal performances made more impressive by their ages. After the show, I was amazed even further when I realized that at age 57, Dickinson is actually the band’s youngest member, the oldest being drummer Nicko McBrain, who is approaching 64 and is still a drumming powerhouse. What I took away from the concert experience beyond the memories, was the uplifting knowledge that the collective members of Iron Maiden clearly aren’t planning on going away anytime soon, nor will their quality be declining. Video proof:

 

You might be asking by now, "So Colin, what’s the overall point you're trying to make in this article?" Well to be honest, I’m not even sure myself. I guess the closest answer is that I want to acknowledge the bitter truth that no band or performer will be around forever, but I also want to promote the mentality that we need to support and enjoy the bands we love while they are still around, and still worth our respect. We owe that to them, but we owe it even more to ourselves. Besides Lemmy’s death, I guess the biggest reason why my otherwise happy and inspiring memories from that Motörhead concert cause me so much grief, is because I know there are so many alive right now, and so many who have yet to be born, who will never ever see that incredible man or that incredible band play. Eventually that will also be the case with The Who, Black Sabbath, Rush, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, AC/DC, etc. And as the untimely deaths of performers like Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, Freddie Mercury, Kurt Cobain, Layne Staley, Dimebag Darrell, and very recently Scott Weiland prove, it’s never really a sure thing for any performer that you can “just see them next time”, regardless of their age. I learned that the hard way regarding Scott Weiland. His sudden drug-induced death at the age of 48 hit me particularly hard, as the music he created with Stone Temple Pilots made up a major portion of my childhood’s soundtrack, yet for some inexplicable reason I never took the opportunity to see him perform. So if you’ve been debating whether or not you should go to that upcoming show to see one of your favorite musicians perform, I’ll end the debate for you right now with the only correct answer there is: GO. 

Pick the lifelong memories over the lifelong regrets. It’s what Lemmy would’ve wanted.